No need for special department for men's affairs - Rohani

There is no need to set up a special Department for Men's Affairs, said Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim.

In reaction to a proposal by a law professor to create a special department to safeguard men’s rights following the increase in divorce cases because husbands were being abused by their wives, she said what was important was the programme about the rights and interests of men.

"The ministry does not focus on women alone. Everything it does is for men and women because the family encompasses the mother and father. Even on the protection of children’s rights, boys and girls are given equal consideration," she told reporters after attending the ministry's monthly assembly here Thursday.

In cases of wives bullying or harassing their husbands, she said the Domestic Violence Act covered spouses of both genders, and action could be taken against a vicious wife.

Rohani was asked to comment on the proposal to set up a Men’s Affairs Department by International Islamic University of Malaysia associate professor of law, Dr Shamrahayu Abdul Aziz.

Shamrahayu Abdul Aziz, who proposed the setting up of a Men’s Affairs Department, had responded to a report by social experts at Universiti Putra Malaysia that 23,800 divorce cases among Muslim couples in 2014 was due to mental and psychological abuse suffered by husbands.

Meanwhile, Rohani who is also president of UNESCO' Intergovernmental Council of The Management of Social Transformation Programme (MOST IGC) for 2015-2017, said she would recommend that Malaysia hosts one of the MOST IGC meetings.